


Winter White

by Ulchabhan



Category: The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:01:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28697367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ulchabhan/pseuds/Ulchabhan
Summary: Harry is engaged to a Vampire Queen, and Murphy is gone. Now he has to be Winter Knight, a succubus’s betrothed, and figure out a way to keep his soul. All while keeping up his most important job: being a dad.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter One

I woke to Mouse whining slightly, and a hesitant tongue lapped over my hand where it was scrunched next to my face.

I groaned.

Mouse whined and snuffled more, and I reached out a hand to ruffle his ear. “Morning, boy,” I croaked. “Go on. Go keep Maggie company. I'm getting up.” He whined again, but shuffled off obediently.

I lay there staring up at the stone ceiling. I had drank too much again last night. I'd never been much of a drinker, but ever since... Well, I was a drinker now. When Maggie and Bonnie went to bed, and I was sat there alone, trying to read or work.

It didn’t help. But it was something to do. And the Winter Mantle let me keep hangovers more or less at bay. I could drink at night and, as long as I was sober by morning, I could drive Maggie to school. Home-school Bonnie, such as it was, trying to teach her the whys of things. Maybe do some work. That bit was hard.

I was eternally grateful to be a father, though I hadn’t ever intended to be one. It was one of the few happy accidents I'd had in my life. After all, I'd had plenty of the other kind.

My girls were the only thing keeping me going. I lived for them, for now, and hoped that someday I might take some joy in life for my own sake again. Well, I say ‘hoped’. It was an academic hope, not a hope I actually felt. A hope I hoped would appear. I don’t know; I was tired. And clinically depressed, probably. I didn’t know what to do about it, so I just kept going. Or tried my best to.

But today wasn’t going to be an easy one.

I rose, my body like a leaden weight, and showered in mercifully warm water. Svartalf engineering, you really can’t beat it.

Mab had made it clear that I would be expected to look good tonight. But my fairy godmother would be over at six to see to my transformation from grieving schlub to succubus’s betrothed. Yippee. So for now I put on sweats and stumbled towards the kitchen.

The castle was becoming a decent home. With help from Michael and his team, two floors had already been converted into comfortable, if still quite bare, living spaces. The ground floor held the kitchen/sitting room (very large and open-plan) and a library, and the second floor held mine and Maggie's bedrooms, two guest rooms and a study.

I had no idea what to do with all the space. I had no idea how I had ended up living in a fricking castle, in the middle of Chicago. Well, I was a wizard I supposed. Maybe it was time I started living it. Though it would be a while yet before my beard was grey enough to grow out, Merlin-style.

 _Murphy would have..._ I shook my head. Yes, Murphy would have loved the castle. No, she wasn’t here to. No, I did not want to cry before breakfast. Again.

 _And Thomas would..._ Yes, that too. But my brother was stuck on Demonreach to prevent his Hunger from killing him. I _would_ heal him, and find Justine. I would make that right. _That’s what you said about Susan..._

I actually growled in frustration.

“Dad?” questioned Maggie, leaning back from where she sat at the kitchen island to peer through the door at me.

“Sorry, punkin,” I said, entering the room, feeling guilty for alarming her. “Just...thinking about difficult problems.”

She nodded, her lips a tight line. “...Uncle Thomas?”

I nodded back. “Yeah,” I sighed.

She put a hand on my arm when I reached the island. “You'll come up with something. I know you will.” It was a tall order, living up to the trust and faith in those brown eyes.

I gave her a small smile and nodded. “I'll try my best.”

“Would you like me to tell you what I know about the White Court of Vampires?” piped up Bonnie helpfully from her little wooden skull on the counter, green eye-lights bright.

I shook my head. “Not right now, Bonnie. But thank you.” It was likely very little of it would be suitable for Maggie's ears. And, though it was irrational, I wished Bonnie didn’t know so much dark stuff either. I mean her mother was the echo of a fallen angel, so go figure, but still.

Maggie was just finishing her cereal, something chocolaty that I probably shouldn’t have allowed. I got another bowl of it and joined her, tossing Mouse a dry piece or two that he happily caught and crunched mid-air. Maggie giggled.

“You all set for movie night?” I asked. She was heading over to the Carpenters’ this evening while I went on my ‘date'. Bonnie was too, but she was going to nap as she wasn’t quite ready for movies yet. So many questions and facts!

Maggie nodded. “Yep. Though we haven’t decided what we're watching yet. There'll probably be a fight.” She rolled her eyes.

I smiled. “Well, don’t be the first to draw blood.”

She considered this, wide eyes narrowing. “I can’t promise anything.”

I laughed. She was definitely spending too much time around me. It was a nice thought.

She was quiet for a few moments then, chewing on her lip. “Dad?” she said tentatively. “You're not looking forward to tonight, are you.” It wasn’t really a question.

There was little point in lying. “No,” I answered.

“But...you said it was a date. Aren’t people supposed to look forward to dates?”

I sighed. I had been dreading trying to explain all this to her. I wasn’t sure I could. A kid should have some respect for her dad, after all.

Bonnie piped up, “Different cultures have different methods of courtship. For example, in traditional Zulu culture-"

“Thanks, Bonnie,” I interrupted. “But...not right now, okay? I need to try and explain this.”

“Okay,” she agreed.

“Thank you. Maggie, I mentioned this was a date my boss wanted me to go on, right? It’s not really something I'm choosing.”

She frowned. “But...that isn’t the kind of thing bosses can normally ask you to do, is it? Is it cos she’s your queen?”

Smart kid. “Yeah, it’s cos she’s my queen. If you ever have a boss who tries to make you date someone, run. Tell me, and then run.”

“But...you aren’t running. You can’t?” she guessed, not looking directly at me. She was as bad at eye contact as I was, though for different reasons.

God, it was too early for this conversation. But then I couldn’t think of any appropriate time of day for it. “...No, I can’t. My queen is very powerful. I agreed to do what she told me in exchange for power to...to keep people safe. I was badly injured, and she healed me. The bargain we made means she can ask things of me that no one else could.”

“It is said that a bargain with the Fae is always a losing bargain,” input Bonnie.

I smiled wryly. “That’s probably true. I only made it cos I didn’t have a choice. So...now I have to live with the consequences.” Though I did _not_ intend to marry Lara Raith. I would find a way out of this one.

Maggie was nodding, taking it all in. “...Dad?” she said again, hesitantly. “Is it... Is it cos you loved Ms Murphy? Is that why you’re not...looking forward to tonight?”

Maggie had known we were dating. But we'd never really discussed it much. Karrin and I had agreed to take things slow with Maggie in that regard. “...Yeah, punkin,” I said softly. “That’s a lot of it. I don’t want to be dating anyone right now. And the woman is...not who I would pick, either.”

Many men would have crawled through glass for a shot with Lara. But they hadn’t seen her disembowel someone and get off on it. Some things stay with you.

* * *

I tried to take my mind off the upcoming evening. Maggie, Mouse and I went to the park and played ball, then had an excellent lunch of crepes. The presence of my bright little family was enough to let me actually enjoy the afternoon.

But when we returned home, the gloom set in. Maggie tried in vain to keep my spirits up, but eventually she withdrew to her room to read with Bonnie and Mouse.

At 5:30, Michael arrived to pick up kids and dog (Mister had assured me he didn’t mind napping solo for the evening). And at six, my fairy godmother arrived.

“Hello, Lea,” I greeted her, as she kissed me on each cheek. “Come in.”

She glided over the threshold to my castle, in a simple (for her) shift dress of pale blue silk. “My boy,” she said, running her eyes over me with a sigh. “I can see we have a lot of work to do.”

An attendant followed her into the castle, a thin and impossibly pretty young man with pale skin and dark hair. He was dressed in a very slim-fitting suit, and he also sighed when he saw me. “Darling,” said Lea, “this is Sull, renowned for his skills with hair and styling in the Winter Court.”

I raised my eyebrows. “You brought in back-up?”

She raised hers back at me. “I thought one can never be too prepared.”

My fairy stylists conjured up a vanity in my living area and plonked me in front of it. Then they started debating the merits and flaws of their raw material.

“One would never mistake him for Sidhe, that’s for certain,” said Sull.

“No, of course not,” replied Lea. “Still, my godson has a certain appeal, does he not? I have managed to bring it out on occasion.”

Sull tilted his head to the side and analysed my impassive reflection in the mirror, apparently searching for any redeeming feature. “I have seen worse humans,” he conceded.

“Thanks, Sull,” I said.

He ignored me entirely. “...His eyes are different. The rest of his face looks like it belongs to some kind of hired ruffian, but his eyes speak to something more intelligent. More _sad_ ,” he said, and did not seem pleased with the assessment. I suppose I was not meant to represent Winter by looking haunted and miserable. Well fuck them; that’s what I was.

But Lea merely nodded. “He has a predator’s face, with a doe's eyes. I think the contrast can work quite well, for our purposes. Intelligence and savagery. Romanticism and violence. The marriage of Winter and White.”

Sull had narrowed his eyes and was nodding slowly. “...Lea my dear, as always, you see the diamond in the roughest stone. Let us get to work.”

Tonight was a big deal. A Big Deal, and I wanted to vomit whenever I thought of it. It was our official betrothal, and a big damn party. All of the Accord signatories and our allies in the Battle of Chicago had been invited. Including the White fucking Council. All my former friends and allies, seeing their worst suspicions about me confirmed. My head collapsed onto the vanity with a bang, and was promptly yanked back up by the hair with a ‘tsk' to continue being styled.

Mab and Molly had issued some guidelines for my attire for the evening. I was representing Winter, after all. The theme for the evening was going to be modern, to contrast with the arcane hell-shindig they were planning for the nuptials themselves. Hence Lea's shift-dress and Sull's oh-so-trendy skinny suit, I supposed. I refused to wear something that slim-fitting (I was pretty sure I would look like a stork), but at least I wouldn’t be stuck in some god-awful doublet or other fairy prince dress-up gear. I could handle a suit.

My hair was magically trimmed and coiffed into ken doll perfection. Lea and Sull insisted on doing something to my skin that made the deep bags under my eyes appear less apparent. I couldn’t help but notice, in fact, that my whole face looked subtlety less tired than it had. Almost like it might belong to a happy man who was getting enough sleep and wasn’t drinking so much. They left me with my scars, at least.

I was made to stand then, for the suit fitting. “I still think he works best in black,” said Lea.

Sull made a face. “Black is too funereal. He's getting engaged.”

“To a vampire. Black seems fitting to me,” I mumbled.

“Oh, hush, child,” said Lea impatiently. “La. Let us see then. Navy.” And my sweatpants and t-shirt writhed and changed into something entirely different. I stood in an impeccably tailored deep blue suit, not nearly as tight-legged as Sull's, thankfully, with a crisp white shirt. My tie was silk, black with subtle wisps of blue, green and purple. Winter colours.

“...Acceptable,” Sull pronounced.

Lea's mouth twisted. “Not good enough.” The cut of the jacket changed, becoming broader at the shoulders. Then it morphed into a double-breasted affair. Lea made a low noise of frustration, still unsatisfied. “We will be presenting him to our whole world. He needs to be in black.”

Sull sighed, unconvinced. “Go on, then,” he said dubiously.

My suit changed colour, and the jacket changed back to the broad-shouldered version of the original.

Sull's expression changed. “...I can see your point,” he conceded. “But it still looks awfully sombre.”

Lea was frowning at my chest, as though my attire was a mathematical equation that was vexing her. “We can fix that with details,” she decided. Suddenly my lapels and pocket square were of deep blue silk. She shook her head, frustrated. They changed to silver.

She stepped back, her expression clearing to a sort of ‘eureka’ face. “There,” she sighed.

Sull nodded. “I shouldn’t have doubted you. Black is his colour.”

Lea nodded. “And Lara will be in white and silver. It is perfect,” she declared. “Now, Sull, let us finish fixing up ourselves, and quickly.”

While they fussed over their own hair and accessories, I surveyed my reflection.

Or...I'm not sure whose reflection it was. A man stood there. Tall, obviously, though my Sidhe companions were so tall that I almost looked normal amongst them. An unsettling thought.

I looked...intimidating. Perhaps more so in the suit than in my usual duster. Trust Lea to manage that. And I could feel the wards in it; it was undoubtedly superior to my duster in terms of protection, too, for as long as the enchantments lasted.

I looked...handsome? I'm not sure; I've never been entirely clear on what women find attractive. But I think, if I had seen me, with my face enchanted into freshness by my fairy godmother, I would have considered this man reasonably good-looking. In a rakish kind of way.

I looked...like the Winter Knight. Like the tough, scarred, dangerous, but ultimately tamed mortal champion of the dark Fae. I looked like a succubus’s betrothed.

I did not look very much like Harry Dresden at all.


	2. Chapter 2

Molly, Lea and I pulled up to the Four Seasons in a black stretch limo. I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. Good; maybe my body could do this without me and let me know when it was over.

“Harry, are you listening?” asked Molly.

“...No,” I answered honestly.

She sighed, and took my hand. “Harry, I know this isn’t ideal. Believe me, I know.” She gave a significant glance to Lea as she said it. We couldn’t speak freely. “But it will do neither of us any good for tonight to go badly.”

Slowly, I nodded. Part of me wanted to make a scene. To declare that I was still in love with someone else, wasn’t crazy enough to marry Lara, and tell Mab to get it over with and vaporise me.

But I couldn’t. I was a father. I was a brother, with a niece or nephew on the way who needed rescuing. I had people to protect. Dammit.

Molly nodded back at me and squeezed my hand. The door was opened, and she exited very gracefully considering the tightness of her midnight blue dress. Lea followed. And then it was my turn. I took a deep breath.

Flashes went off as I stepped onto the red carpet. The goddamn society pages were here. “Mr Dresden!” one of the photographers called. “A few words?”

I simply shook my head. “Sorry.” I walked past the handful of journalists, trying to wear a small smile. Mab would kill me if I embarrassed her by looking miserable.

And then I was inside, being shepherded into an elevator by a staff member, Molly and Lea accompanying me.

The function room had two grand staircases that met in the middle and joined into one. Lara and I were to make dramatic entrances from opposite sides, and kiss when we reached each other. Joy.

It occurred to me that this would not be the first time Lara and I had kissed. I had used my attraction to her to fuel a spell that had saved both our asses, once, and she had been more than willing to oblige me by making out. But my attraction to Lara was like the attraction some people had to cocaine. It had a lot of great qualities, and was really fucking bad for you.

We came to the doors I was to enter through, and Molly turned to kiss me on each cheek, squeezing my hands again, her not-quite-human eyes warm and sympathetic. “Remember, you enter on ‘announce', and descend when she’s done.”

I nodded.

She gave me a sad smile, a deep lance of pain in her eyes for a moment, before she released my hands and walked back to the elevator.

Lea raised a hand to my cheek as she passed. “I know this is difficult for you, my godson,” she said. “But I am very proud.”

And then I was alone.

God, I wanted someone to save me from this. I wanted Murphy to take a day trip from Valhalla and steal me away on her motorbike. I wanted Elaine Mallory to turn up and reveal she’d carried a torch for me all these years, and whisk me off to Summer. Heck, I wanted Michael to arrive and declare his undying love for me. It would be complicated, but we could make it work.

But alas, this was real life. My hair was far too short for anyone to use to scale a tower, and it was unlikely this Beast would find out his Beauty wasn’t so bad after all. The real fairy tales never ended like that anyway. Usually someone killed themselves.

Well, I tried to remind myself, this was just the start. I had eleven months left before the deal became final. Eleven months to figure something out. Survive the night, and there would be all manner of tragic endings available to choose from.

At nine, I heard Mab begin her speech. “Ladies and gentlemen, Accorded nations and allies, we are so happy you could join us here this evening in this fine city. For like us, this city endured great losses in the fight against the Fomor and Eithniu, and like us, it is trying to rebuild stronger than ever.

“The past months have seen us all grow ever closer as allies. We have remembered that, though we have our differences, we all seek to defend our homes from enemies who would destroy us. We all wish to see this world prosper, in one way or another. And in this spirit of harmony, myself and Lord Raith have agreed to an unprecedented alliance between the Winter Court of the Sidhe and the White Court of Vampires. This alliance will be symbolised by the joining of our houses; our families.

"And so we are delighted to announce-" The door was swiftly pulled open from the other side, and I stepped through, almost trembling. “-the betrothal of the Winter Knight, Harry Dresden, godson to the Leanansidhe-" Mab swept a graceful arm up towards where I stood on the small landing, and _hundreds_ of eyes turned to me. No, more like a thousand. Hell's bells, the place was packed. I tried to reach inside myself to a place of calmness, and plastered a small, polite smile on my face. “-to Lara Raith, daughter of Lord Raith, heir to the White Court.” Her hand had swept up to Lara, who smiled out at the crowd, looking like she did this every damn day. “They have stood beside each other in battle many times, and it is difficult to think of two people better matched.” The sad thing was I might have agreed with Mab there. Only for a different meaning of ‘matched’. “Please join us in congratulating the happy couple.”

Applause started up, and that was our cue to descend. I tried not to trip over my feet.

Molly and Lea waited on the landing, behind Mab and Lord Raith, who had stepped aside. Two of Lara’s sisters stood on the other side. This was about the joining of houses, after all.

Lara and I reached each other, clasped hands, and leaned in for a kiss on the lips that was just past a peck, but didn’t qualify as a smooch.

Lara’s eyes were deep blue, and I could tell she'd fed like crazy before coming here. I wondered if she’d killed some poor bastard. She had to keep her Hunger in check, because if she didn’t, my touch would burn her like a griddle, and that would probably look like a bad omen for an alliance.

Murphy’s touch still protected me, from the last time we'd made love. Murphy was always protecting me; she wouldn’t let a little thing like being dead stop her. My eyes stung for a moment, and I quickly shoved the emotions in a box for later. I would feel them later.

“Harry,” said Lara, a little breathlessly, my hands still in hers, “you look wonderful. I think I must be the envy of every woman here.”

I smiled wryly. “Well, I’m certainly the envy of every man here. And probably a few of the women. But then that was never in doubt.”

Lara grinned. She wore a heck of a dress. The skirt was flared, white and pleated, ending demurely at the ankle. The top... The top seemed to be artfully placed silver metal and clear gemstones, in some kind of halter-neck arrangement. The inner curves of her breasts were clearly visible, as were other flashes of skin. Hell’s bells.

The Winter Mantle joined my baser instincts in going nuts. It wanted to tear the intricate top off her, to put my mouth to her, to-

I shoved those thoughts away too. Those thoughts would get me killed.

We turned, hand-in-hand, to face the crowd below, who were still applauding politely. Mab nodded to Lara, and when Lara spoke, it carried as if she’d been holding a microphone. “Thank you all so much for coming! Harry and I couldn’t be happier. As Queen Mab so eloquently said, we have been allies for many years, and the joining of our lives and our houses is something we're extremely excited about. Enjoy the party, and we hope to get to speak to everyone!”

Ugh, God, I hoped not.

And then it was time to mingle. All of us descended the steps into the crowd.

The first to swarm us were various sycophants from Winter. I didn’t have to do much other than smile, there. I was the Knight; with one or two notable exceptions, I ranked higher than anyone other than the queens. These people sucked up to me, not the other way around.

Then came the White Court, which was similar. I noticed all the Raiths were careful not to touch me; Lara had obviously warned them. Unfortunately I had no protection from the representatives of Malvora and Skavis, but they were well-behaved, if fucking creepy as ever.

Summer was a little tense. Lady Sarissa and Fix greeted us politely and wished us well, but Fix didn't disguise the calculation in his gaze as he looked at me. It said, quite plainly, ‘This is fishy as hell, Harry, for a good guy. Maybe you have a plan, but I can’t help but think they've gotten to you.’ And at this point, he was right to give me that look.

And then… Then three heavy-hitters of the White Council approached. Not in power terms, though one of them certainly was, and another held considerable influence. No, these were Harry-specific heavy-hitters. Emotional heavy-hitters. My grandfather, my ex-girlfriend (and former boss), and my closest friend on the council. Ebenezer McCoy, Anastasia Luccio, and Carlos Ramirez.

God. I had hoped it wouldn’t be them. Any of them. But all of them together? And me on Lara Raith's arm in a suit, like some kind of comic book villain?

I started to hyperventilate. This was everything my grandfather had feared, and I couldn’t face him about it. Everything Carlos had suspected me of.

I almost reached for the coldness of Winter to guard my heart, before realising that would just make things worse. But it was a close run thing.

My grandfather took the lead, as Senior Councilman. “On behalf of the White Council, we would like to offer our congratulations on your engagement, Knight Dresden and Ms Raith. Stable alliances benefit us all, and we wish you every personal happiness."

I wasn’t sure it was my grandfather who had spoken. This utter, absolute coldness was more terrifying than his rage. And that was pretty goddamn terrifying. Only the detectable hint of Scottish accent in his voice let me know that the rage wasn’t far under the surface.

Lara had grabbed onto my forearm and was squeezing it, for some reason. She knew Ebenezer’s feelings on the White Court. I suppose, even to her, the Blackstaff was frightening. My grandfather probably represented the most real threat to this marriage/alliance/farce, and to her person because of it.

_He can help you, Harry. He hates them. He can help you escape._

But where would I go? Lara, I could possibly handle, but Mab? No, there was no hiding from her. My grandfather would wipe out the White Court if I asked him to, and all it would get us was slow deaths in Arctis Tor.

So all I said was, “Thank you, Sir. It’s good to see you.”

I don’t think he'd been expecting that response, and he simply blinked at me, his face still carefully neutral.

Carlos spoke up then, “We'd also like to extend our sincere condolences on the loss of Karrin Murphy. We know the significant role she played in protecting Chicago from supernatural threats, and how close you were,” he finished, his inflection only slightly pointed.

Ah. They had learned that now, had they? And this was meant to, what? Shame me? As if, as Mab’s knight, I had any goddamn control over this at all?

I was seized by the urge to strangle Carlos.

Lara’s hand tightened painfully on my arm. “Thank you, Warden Ramirez. Ms Murphy was a valued ally to all of us here in Chicago. We couldn’t have run the Brighter Future Society without her. I'm not sure I ever met a braver woman.” Her eyes met mine, deep sympathy in them.

I didn’t know how much of it was real and how much was for the benefit of the Council. But it was certainly the best way she could have handled things. Making it clear that she respected my loss and that Murphy was not a sore point between us. Of course, if anyone _really_ respected my loss, I wouldn’t be an unwilling attendee at my own engagement party right now.

I simply swallowed and kept my eyes down. But I saw, in the corner of my vision, sympathy in Anastasia’s expression. And what looked like a hint of regret in Carlos's. My grandfather’s face remained unreadable.

“We must talk soon, Harry,” Anastasia said. Her words were heavy with exhausting implications.

I looked up at her and nodded steadily. “You can call on me whenever you’re in town.”

Her smile was suitably sad, before she donned her polite Council face again. “Well, we shouldn’t take up too much more of your time; you have a lot of well-wishers to greet.” And the three of them bade us short farewells.

I saw Lara studying me out of the corner of her eye. “You were lovers,” she said.

I blinked, but wasn’t really surprised she'd picked that up. “Yes.”

She raised one eyebrow. “Sleeping with the boss. How very...bold of you.” Her voice held a slight purr, and her eyes got a little less blue and a little more grey. I checked to make sure our skin wasn’t touching, but she held only my suit-covered arm.

Of course Lara would approve.

I couldn’t get the faces of my grandfather and former allies out of my head. I endured the rest of the party with the world’s tiniest smile plastered to my face.

The words with the svartalves were painfully tense. They knew we had taken Thomas; they just couldn’t prove it. Marcone was likewise a strained affair. I managed a sneer at the ghouls, in spite of Lara’s glare.

Ivy, still unaccountably grown up, looked concerned for me.

I stuffed finger-food in my face and tried to stop myself from drinking as much as I wanted to. I danced with Lara, her movements somewhat stiff and her face almost pained under her smile from holding her Hunger back. And finally, finally, midnight arrived and we had permission to leave.

We exited through a set of double-doors, waving and smiling to another round of applause. I collapsed back against the doors when they closed and heaved out a sigh.

Lara’s mouth twitched in displeasure. “Come now, Dresden. It wasn’t _that_ bad.”

I winced. “Maybe not for you.”

Her expression became cold.

“Look, Lara, it’s nothing personal.” I stopped to consider that. “Well, it sort of is. I like you, in a ‘you're good company' kind of way. You’re charming, intelligent, funny. You keep your word. And you know I'm attracted to you.”

“...Marriages have succeeded on less,” she said softly.

I nodded in acknowledgement of the fact. “...But I don’t love you,” I continued, just as quietly. “The woman I love is dead. And even if she’d never existed... We're too different. You see humans as kine. I _am_ a human.”

She snorted. “You're much more than that.”

I looked her in the eye for as long as I dared. “...But that’s just it. To you, ‘human’ is an insult. To me... It’s what I'm trying to remain.”

She said nothing for a few long moments. “...So what are you saying, wizard? Are you saying we should call this off?”

I raised my eyebrows. “That’s not within my power to do. It might be within yours,” I pointed out.

She seemed to honestly consider this, her eyes downcast. Then she looked back up at me. “No. No, I have earned this. This marriage will bring my people power we've never had before. And I have earned _you_ , Harry,” she said, stepping closer to me. Her sweet perfume filled my head. Delicious coldness radiated from her. I found my eyes fixed on her full bottom lip, imagining it between my teeth... “I will not be such a bad wife,” she whispered, so close I could feel her breath on my face. There was an inch between us.

And then she stepped back, visibly reining in the Hunger that wanted to take a big damn bite out of me. Part of me wanted to be bitten. “Goodnight, my fiancé,” she said softly, and she turned and left, heels clicking on the marble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to split the chapter here, rather than keep going. Next up: Ebenezer. Hoo boy.

**Author's Note:**

> Kind of a take on the next novel 'Twelve Months', and one that doesn’t shy away from some of the more unfortunate implications of Harry's situation. But this will have no B-plot of usual Harry madness. It will be very dark at times (very dark), but with some Dresden-appropriate humour and warm bits also. Warnings will be updated.


End file.
